Dish motor has a problem!

Tony1A

Tony1A

Never going back to Sky TV. Ever!
My Satellite Setup
Humax HDR1100S Freesat Recorder. Octagon UHD satellite box with Gibertini 1m motorised dish. Triax TD78 for Freesat. Triax TD64 for Freesat to 3 rooms. 2 Panasonic Freeview+ HD recorders.
My Location
North-East England, UK
HELLO EVERYONE

Today I used my motorised sat for the first time in a couple of months. But all is not well. My 23.5E vanished without trace so I rescanned....only to pick up 26E. In fact, all of them are the same. I have an awful feeling that one of the cogs inside the motor has jumped a couple of teeth. It's all out of whack. Each sat is about 2.5 degrees out. The reason is up here, where I live, we get very strong winds and my system has been hammered by the wind these last months. I can't use the motor when very windy as the picture just goes blocky and I lose the signal.

I went outside and used a pole to try to press the button on the underside of the motor.....the rubber button popped out. I am on the verge of giving it up. My next plan is to use the 1m gibby lower down and with a multi LNB holder and DISEQC multi switch. This has cost me wayyyyyy too much money and I'm thinking of cutting my losses. :(
 
Ouch, doesn't sound too clever.

My wall-mounted motorised is extremely exposed, but fortunately has withstood the ravages of wind and rain for years without complaint. It just needs the rust on the bracket and fasteners treating every now and again.

Have you poked a straightened-out paper clip into the motor reset hole, just in case it's confused rather than bu**ered?
 
Motor reset hole? Erm, where is that?
 
If it's been very windy then the motor or dish may have moved (twisted) on the mount(s)

A re-alignment may be necessary.

When I install a motorized system I use a through bolt on the motors arm to dish mount (some motors have this option)(and you may have to drill the dish mount to use it), and a 1/4" Tek* screw on the motor mount to the pole, (after performance is tested) this keeps things from moving during a high wind.

* Tek screw, a self drilling self tapping screw, like the one below.
Code: 
http://www.fastenal.com/web/products/details/32046
 
First I need to put the rubber grommet back on the button that manually moves the dish. Oh boy - I think this is the end. Bloody hell, I'm not having much luck! Why didn't I stick with a fixed dish on 19.2E?
 
If it's windy, my whole motor/mount assembly spins round the pole. As a temporary 'fix' you can always alter your longtitude to compensate for the error..
 
I have a bad feeling.....
 
Feel for you Tony as I have a 1m Gib and 2100A motor on the side of the house that is really exposed to everything the Channel can throw at it so accept the fact I have to re-align it a few times each year. It's why I keep it at step ladder height and accept a 45E limit, a longer pole would get me to 66E but it wouldn't last long in the winter. Short of welding the motor to the scaf pole nothing is going to stop it moving in the strongest winds.

As Tivu has suggested maybe worth sending the motor to zero, checking it does actually go there then reset it. That rubber cover fell in on mine, one day I'll fish it out and reseat it. Are you sure the cogs have slipped and it hasn't just moved round the pole? The latter will lose you marginal signals, if it really has slipped on a cog all the signals should be as strong as before but in a different location and I think you should be able to get them back by fudging your USALs location?
 
Back to ye olde drawing board methinks
 
Terryl said:
* Tek screw, a self drilling self tapping screw, like the one below.
Code: 
http://www.fastenal.com/web/products/details/32046
Click to expand...

First discovered these years ago while I was working on a US Cruise ship, always keep a few in the tool box now just in case they're needed, handy little things that they are!
 
And great for securing those moving objects that should not be moving, and they are removable.

Like I say pinning the mount always works.
 
First I would do is to go to the motor menu And choose in usals the option " go to reference " than select a sat and check the signal .
In the motor menu you can turn your dish to east and west to find out when the signal improves .
Dont worry about that rubber , the worst thing that can happen is a spider goes in .
You can put it back at better weather condtions .
 
MOTOR RESET - NOT RESPONDING!!! This isn't looking great! Looks like the motor is bust. I'm taking it down ASAP. I refuse to throw more money at it as it has cost me too much already. Sad, but there you are!
 
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Of course you could always just get a fixed dish and subscribe to S............. [runs and hides] :-lol
 
You need to think about this a bit more rationally than throwing in the towel at the first hurdle.

First check the connections and ensure the cable hasn't worked itself loose.

Second try driving the motor manually through your receiver. Will be in positioner menu somewhere...

Is the light on the bottom of the motor lit when the receiver is switches on?

If the motor is still unresponsive, take it down and try driving it through your receiver (or with the button if you fish it out) with a short length of cable in the house.

I have never known for these positioners to break in such a way like a slipped cog, especially one as new as yours. They really are very sturdy.

My bet is that it's something simple ... Just have to figure out what it is.
 
A more serious reply, if the motor is screwed, a multi LNB setup with worth a bit of effort and may last longer in the winds. Even just 28E/19E/13E will get a decent amount of channels and is pretty quick to get going for the price of a couple of cheap LNBs and a bracket.
 
Yeah, I think a fixed dish with multi bracket is the way to go. Though I wouldn't want 28E as I'm sorted for that. I reckon 13/16/19e. Would this be doable on an 80cm maybe. The gibby is quite big at ground level. :)
 
9E has some interesting stuff on it too, and is doable on a smaller dish. 16E is a bit close to the other satellites unless you use narrow LNBs.
 
I have three ALPS ones in the spares box :)
 
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